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Lancer of White (Fate/Famiglia)
Lancer of "White" is the Lancer-class Servant of Hugo Dietrich of the White Faction in the Empire State Holy Grail War 'of Fate/Famiglia. '' Profile Identity Lancer's '''True Name is Cadmus, the founder and first King of Thebes. Lancer was the first Greek hero and, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Initially a Phoenician prince, son of king Agenor and queen Telephassa of Tyre and the brother of Phoenix, Cilix and Europa, he was originally sent by his royal parents to seek out and escort his sister Europa back to Tyre after she was abducted from the shores of Phoenicia by Zeus. The Search for Europa After his sister Europa had been carried off by Zeus from the shores of Phoenicia, Cadmus was sent out by his father Agenor to find her, and was ordered not to return without her. Unsuccessful in his search he came to Samothrace, the island sacred to the "Great Gods”, the Kabeiroi, to seek their help, but still to no avail.Cadmus eventually came in the course of his wanderings to Delphi, where he consulted the oracle for advice. He was told to give up his fruitless quest and follow a special cow, with a half moon on her flank, which would meet him, and to build a town on the spot where she should lie down exhausted. The cow guided him to Boeotia, where he thus decided to found the city of Thebes. The Ismenian Dragon Unfortunately, it turned out that the spring was guarded by a fearsome dragon, said to be a son of Ares; this creature effortlessly slew all the men who entered the forest.After a while, wondering at his men’s delay, Cadmus decided to follow their tracks. There, he too met the dragon, who is in turn vanquished and slain by the hero. At this point, Athena advised him to plough the soil and plant the Serpent’s teeth, from which a future people should arise. Cadmus obeyed, and from the earth arose a race of fierce, armed men, called Spartoí. In fear of these new foemen Cadmus grabbed his arms, but one of warriors told him to lay down his weapons, and not interfere with civil war. Cadmus threw a stone among them and the men, thinking that the stone had been thrown by one of the others, fought each other until only five survived). These five helped Cadmus to found the city of Thebes. However, since the dragon was sacred to the god of war, Cadmus incurred in his wrath and Zeus had to intervene to save him from the anger of Ares. Cadmus was thus obliged to serve Ares for a certain period of time, some say one year, others eight years. At the end of this service, he was given Harmonia, the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares, to be his wife, and from her he had a heir, Polydorus, and four daughters, Agave, Autonoë, Ino and Semele (who would become the mother of Dionysus). The Final Regret All the gods were present at the wedding, and all of them brought gifts: among them the infamous Necklace of Harmonia, forged by Hephaestus. It allowed any woman wearing it to remain eternally young and beautiful, but it also carried a curse, caused probably by Hephaestus himself, considering that Harmonia was the result of the adulterous love of Aphrodite, his wife, and Ares: the curse would bring disaster to any who wore it (the curse on the House of Thebes would later on culminate with the infamous tragic story of Oedipus). Notwithstanding the divinely ordained nature of his marriage and his kingdom, Cadmus lived to regret both: his family was overtaken by grievous misfortunes, and his city by civil unrest. Cadmus finally abdicated in favor of his grandson Pentheus, and went with Harmonia to Illyria, to fight on the side of the Encheleans. Deeply troubled by the ill-fortune which clung to him as a result of him having killed the sacred dragon, one day he remarked that if the gods were so enamoured of the life of a serpent, he might as well wish that life for himself. Immediately he began to grow scales and change in form. Harmonia, seeing the transformation, thereupon begged the gods to share her husband's fate, which they granted. After his transformation, Zeus brought the two lovers to the fields of Elysium, where they spent eternity together, happily ever after. Personality Lancer is a man who lived in service of a divine path and destiny. Honor bound and driven by the love he had for his sister, Lancer is a more than capable warrior. His dutifulness has been tarnished due to the ill fortune laid upon him by one divine circumstance at the expense of another. As a result, he harbors a dislike of Divine Spirits and deitities in general. He is sympathetic to those who feel they are toys in another's game, and holds a deep hatred of those who wish to manipulate the world. This side of Lancer appears in the first conversations had between him and his Master, Hugo Dietrich. When he comes to understand the plans of Hugo's family, he is angered with being roped into another game of those who thought themselves above others. But he is also compassionate towards his Master, understanding that Hugo did not choose to be a participant. Together, they are both pawns in another's game. ' ' Role Fate/Famiglia Call of the Grail Battles Abilities Class Skills Magic Resistance (A): It grants protection against magical effects. At this level it cancels spells of A-Rank or below. In practice, Lancer is unaffected to modern Magecraft. Personal Skills Bravery (A+): '''The ability to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination. There is also a bonus effect of increasing melee damage. According to one particular version of Cadmus's legend reported by Nonnus of Panopolis, during the hero’s search for his lost sister, Lancer was recruited by Zeus against the giant Typhoeus . Typhoeus was the last of Gaia’s sons, born with the purpose of inflicting vengeance upon Zeus (who previously overthrew the other sons of Gaia, Cronus, the Titans and the giants). He was the largest and most fearsome of all creatures; his human upper half reached as high as the stars, and his hands reached east and west; instead of a human head, a hundred dragon heads erupted from his neck and shoulders and is bottom half consisted of gigantic viper coils, while fire flashed from his eyes. At the sight of such a monstrous creature, the whole pantheon of the Olympian gods flew to Egypt from the terror, disguising themselves as animals. At the beginning, Typhoeus did in fact manage to defeat Zeus and steal his tendons. But here’s where Lancer’s part starts: he managed to play his lyre in front of such a terrifying being without fear, and his music was so good that he tricked the monster into giving him the stolen sinews in order to make another instrument, and when the hero had them in his hands, he gave them back to the King of the Gods, who finally managed to defeat the monster. According to this version, it was at the end of this adventure that Lancer took Harmonia as his wife. '''Divine Words (B): '''The power to activate Thaumaturgy without the use of Magic Circuits . The language of the '''Age of Gods, back when words played a heavy role in spellcasting. As such, it is a power long lost by modern magi. According to the tradition, Lancer was the hero who brought the original twenty-two letters of the Phoenician alphabet to the West. The Greeks later adapted these letters (who at the time didn’t include vowels, for example) to form their own alphabet. These improved Divine Words were later on famously used by the greatest magi and witches of Ancient Greece, after having improved them even more, and turning them into one of the highest forms of magical language. This being said however, Lancer doesn’t have much attitude as a magus to begin with (thus excluding him from the Caster class), therefore he doesn’t use this competence of his as if he were one. He employs a simple and modest use… although this doesn’t mean an ineffective one. Prana Burst (A): The capacity of infusing one's weapons and body with magical energy and instantly expelling it. Simply put, recreating the effect of a jet burst by expending large amounts of prana. At this level, a normal weapon that is not on the level of a divine mystery can be destroyed in one blow. Raises defense in several times. Monstrous Strength ©: '''An ability possessed by monsters and beasts, temporary boost of the Strength parameter by one rank for a time limit determined by the ranking of this skill. A skill naturally born from his Noble Phantasm, '''Body of the Dragon. The more Lancer turns into the counterpart of the Ismenian Dragon, the stronger he gets. However, at the same time, the instinct of the reptile grows similarly stronger, and he starts to lose the grip on higher cognitive functions. Noble Phantasm 'To Diatoron Doru (Τό Διάτορο Δόρυ): Dragon-Slaying Spear' Rank: B+ Type: Anti-Unit/Anti-Army The demonic spear used by Lancer to kill the Ismenian Dragon, according to the version reported by Ovid in his work, the Metamorphoses. Lancer’s Noble Phantasm exists in two instances, which can be argued to be two separate Noble Phantasms. Once activated, one of two effects will occur, depending on the purpose of the wielder. The first manifests a corrosive substance (derived from the venom of the slain Ismenian dragon), capable of destroying anything it touches. The second manifests as the force of ocean waves when thrown, bringing in its wake a wild torrent of water. Cadmus tried to smash the dragon with a huge rock (which is described to have the force to destroy towers) but to no avail, for the impact is nullified by the armor-like scales of the dragon’s skin. Then Cadmus throws a javelin, which manages to pierce the impenetrable hide. Writhing in pain, the dragon bends its head over to its back to see the wound, bites the deep-sunk shaft, and straining it from side to side he manages to wrench the shaft out – but the actual iron point of the javelin remains stuck within the body. Cadmus must now face the enraged dragon, even more maddened by the agony of the wound: at this point he steps back, keeping the venomous fangs at distance with the point of his other spear, managing to inflict only a light wound to the mouth of the dragon, who is furiously coiling and twisting his body, destroying the surrounding woods. The frenzied dragon keeps avoiding any deep wound or serious damage, but at this point Cadmus sees the right moment and strikes with all of his strength, completely penetrating the dragon’s gullet and beyond, nailing the monster’s body to an oak tree behind it. The weight of the body bends the tree as the dragon struggles in the agonies of death. 'To Tou Drakontos Sōma (Τό Του Δράκοντος Σῶμα): Body of the Dragon' Rank: A Type: Anti-Unit (Self) The reptilian form assumed by Cadmus and his wife at the end of their lives. After many misadventures, Cadmus finally let out final regret: “If the life of a Snake is so dear to the gods, then I wish that life for myself!” And as soon as he had finished his words, the transformation began: Cadmus was quickly transfigured into a snake while his wife observed the event in shock. Wishing to not lose her beloved husband, she expressed the same wish, and it was fulfilled. This new form carries the same type of curse of the Ismenian Dragon: every person or Servant who injures (or, even worse, kills) Cadmus thus transformed, will incur in a curse-like effect that greatly lowers his Luck rank. Category:Lancer-class Servants Category:Fate/Famiglia Category:Greek Heroic Spirits